- Trump plans blockade of Hormuz and proposes 20% freight transit fees
- The United States says the strikes hit military targets in Bushehr and Bandar Abbas.
- Trump says a deal with Iran is still possible despite renewed fighting.
The United States launched a third night of strikes against Iran as President Donald Trump planned to reimpose a blockade on Iranian ports on Tuesday and imposed a 20% tax on goods in the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said a deal with the Islamic Republic was still possible even as attacks were carried out, with Iran hitting two ships in the strategic waterway and killing a crew member, according to the United Arab Emirates.
The U.S. military said its five-hour mission hit targets across Iran, including the coasts of Bushehr and Bandar Abbas, to “degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping.”
After the strikes, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced that it had in turn fired missiles and drones into Bahrain, targeting a residential building for U.S. forces and other facilities.
“We’re going to hit them real hard tonight, and we’re going to hit them real hard tomorrow,” Trump said Monday at the White House.
Trump’s statement on the Hormuz blockade follows U.S. and Iranian attacks on a scale not seen since April’s ceasefire in the Middle East conflict, adding to doubts about efforts to bring a permanent end to the war.
Iran began blocking the strait after US-Israeli attacks in February, which led to Washington’s blockade of Tehran’s ports – but restrictions were eased after the sides agreed to a preliminary deal in June.
Trump said Monday that the United States was “taking control” of the strait and would impose a 20 percent tax on all goods shipped through it, in an announcement that drew mockery from Iran and accusations of “piracy.”
The US Central Command (Centcom) said on Tuesday that Iranian ports on the waterway would be blocked from 2000 GMT.
Oil prices rose more than 9% on Monday on fears of renewed conflict and rose again on Tuesday, accumulating more than 1%.
Tehran has launched attacks on other U.S. allies in the region, including Jordan, which said it shot down four Iranian missiles.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said their strikes targeted U.S. forces at an air base and urged the Jordanians to issue a “serious demand for the withdrawal of the occupying U.S. bases from the region.”
The attacks come after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced strikes in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Oman on Monday.
Iran insists it only targets U.S. interests in the Gulf, but its military command spokesman said any collaboration by Gulf countries with the United States would be considered “an act of war.”
Resumption of conflict
Trump formally informed Congress last week that the United States had resumed military conflict against Iran, the White House confirmed to AFP, giving the Pentagon an additional 60 days to operate in the region without congressional approval.
In addition to the measures taken in Hormuz, the US president also threatened to destroy Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried nuclear site near Natanz, where Western intelligence suspects Iran of building an undeclared enrichment facility.
“Tell the Iranians to be ready. Let them know we’re coming (and) there’s nothing they can do about it,” he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Trump said on Truth Social that the United States would be “known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ'” and would levy a 20 percent tax on all goods shipped through the waterway.
While Iranian ports would be blocked again, Trump said “all other countries would benefit from fair and open use of the strait.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi mockingly responded on
“20% is of course too much,” he said.
Washington has strongly opposed Tehran’s push to impose tolls across the strait, which international law generally prohibits.
‘In crisis’
Despite all signs to the contrary, Trump said Monday that a deal with Tehran to end the war was still possible.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said earlier Monday that the June memorandum of understanding that formed the basis of negotiations and lifted the U.S. blockade was “in crisis.”
Baqaei said Iran would ignore its obligations under the deal if Washington did the same, but added that Tehran was continuing negotiations with mediators from Qatar, Pakistan and Oman to prevent further escalation.
